Osaka woman terrifyingly attacked by intruder while playing video games in her home late at night

At nearly 2 a.m. on 18 November, a 29-year-old woman was playing video games in her apartment in the Mitsumatsu area of Kaizuka City, Osaka Prefecture. She was playing with a pair of headphones on so as not to disturb the neighbors in her building. However, in the middle of her game all the power in her apartment suddenly went out.

She walked toward the front door where the fuse box was, but instead found the silhouette of a strange man standing inside her apartment, having somehow gained entrance to her home. He had apparently pulled the circuit breaker moments earlier, and his entrance had been drowned out by the sounds of her gaming.

▼ Fuse boxes are often found next to the front door of Japanese apartments.

The man went for the woman’s throat with a rope in an attempt to choke her, but she instinctively shoved him away and made it out the door. Neighbors heard her cries for help and called the police. Luckily, the victim was able to escape unharmed.

However, the suspect remains at large and is believed to be in his 50s. The victim told police she had never seen him before.

Readers of the news were understandably disturbed by this apparent attempted murder.

“What the hell is that?! It’s like something out of a horror movie.”“I always worry about this kind of thing, so I try to use earphones as little as possible.”“I’m also a 29-year-old who lives alone and plays video games with my headphones on…”“That’s messed up! How did he get inside?”“I’m never using headphones again.”“On the other hand, if she wasn’t playing games and was sleeping, it might have been much worse.”“Since the criminal deliberately killed the power, he probably wasn’t trying to rob the place.”“I’m glad she escaped, but she is definitely going to have some trauma.”

As many pointed out, the nature of the attacker’s actions certainly suggest he was more than a mere thief, so let’s hope he gets caught quickly. Meanwhile, let’s keep safe, everyone, and make sure your doors are securely locked at all times.